TEETOTALISM.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 906, 18 October 1910, Page 4

TEETOTALISM.

Few total abstainers from alcohol know why they call themselves “teetotalers,” and not everybody understands that total abstinence from alcohol was extremely rare a few decades ago. There is little doubt that drinking anterior to the Victorian era was more general and “heavier” than uow-a-days. Happily in these enlightened times a person may admit total abstinence without being jeered at, but certainly in earlier days an ability to consume unnecessary liquid was looked upon as a rather fine accomplishment. The greater necessity for temperance has been brought about by the wonderful progress of commerce and the need for keen brains in competition, the rapidity of action and travel, the use of machinery, the general whirl of things. Insobriety is commoner to the ignorant than to the clever or astute, and it may therefore be assumed that increase of temperance means increase of general education. But this does not explain why total abstainers came to be called “teetotalers.” Foreigners who regard campaigns against alcohol as a peculiar phase of the character of “these droll English” on examining the word conclude that it has a reference to tea, and certainly a famous Frenchman has in Gallicisiug the word tranlated “teetotaler,” “Totaliseur du the,” inferring that total abstainers drink tea solely. Some editions of Larousse’s famous dictionary give the word “tee-totaler,” and the definition explains that the English people of the order of teatotalers are not permitted any drink but tea or water. It is probable that the word is of American origin aud has nothing whatever to do with tea. The Rev. Joel Jewell was oue of the earliest total abstinence preachers in the United States, and although be was at heart a total abolitionist, he saw that it was impossible to reform all his disciples by a drastic prohibition. So be instituted the pledge and in his records marked all moderates “0.P.” (old pledge) and the whole-souled abstainers “T” (total). “T total,” therefore was coined in America. Another quaint but improbable story asserts that a working man prohibitionist in Eancashire was a stutterer and in admonishing his fellows to abstain from drink mentioned that “nothing but t-t-t-total would do.” An increasing number of Americans still have the parson’s “T” mark against their names, and in Britain “nothing but t-total” will do for the successors of the stammering workman.